Building collapse death toll rises to nine in South India

Rescuers search for workers buried in the rubbles of a building that collapsed during monsoon rains on the outskirts of Chennai, India, June 28, 2014. The death toll rose to nine in the 11 storey-building collapse in Chennai of Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Saturday while nearly 40 people are feared trapped under the debris. Police said dozens of workers have been pulled out so far and the search is continuing. (Xinhua/Stringer)

NEW DELHI, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The death toll rose to nine in the 11 storey-building collapse in Chennai of Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Saturday while nearly 40 people are feared trapped under the debris, officials has said.

The under construction building collapsed following heavy rains in the city. Rescue operations are underway with 10 teams of the NDRF and 180 experts working at the spot. Twelve fire tenders and ambulances are also at the spot.

According to Fire Service and police officials, nine people have lost their lives during the collapse of the residential building Saturday evening that trapped over 50 people.

Around 20 of the 25 people rescued are alive. The rescue operations continued through Saturday night and are still on.

The injured have been admitted to the nearby hospital.

Police have arrested four people, two of whom are said to be project developers and the other two are engineers.